Boy with BMW toy car

In his series You Get Me?, Mahtab Hussain documents the rich variety of male, working-class, British Muslim identity. An
exhibition of the work is at Autograph, London, until 1 July; a book,
You Get Me?, will be published by Mack in June. All photographs by Mahtab Hussain

Eyebrow tracks, white vest and baseball cap

Young boy in pink and grey beanie

He describes the series as ‘an intimate portrait on negotiating masculinity, self-esteem, social identity, and religion in a multicultural society faced with high unemployment, discrimination in the workplace, and racism’

Green chalk stripe suit

Young man asleep

In
an interview last year, he elaborates: ‘I initially made work focusing specifically on British Pakistani heritage; I felt this was the only community I could comment on given my background. However, I was challenged by individuals I met – they often asked why I was only focusing on British Pakistanis. Many said that they weren’t just Pakistanis, but Muslims. This then opened up my scope and decided to focus on British Muslim communities ... I was able to connect with individuals from all walks of life, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Somalia, Uganda, Saudi Arabia, Yemen...’

Young boy, white boxing gloves

‘The systematic campaigning against Muslims, thereby thrusting them into a negative light, has created a great sense of bias; ie Muslims, generally assumed to be the instigators of violence, should be feared. Muslims are hardly ever the victim, and if they are, they have somehow deserved it. It is shocking to experience how a society is slowly being dehumanised through the power of western cultural assumptions’

Shemagh, beard and blingh

By making viewers pause and truly see Muslim Britons, Hussain is subtly rowing back against a narrative of dehumanisation. ‘I’m taking on a beast of a subject, and it will take my lifetime, but also the collective voice of others around me to make a change,’ he says